The opening match day of the II Women's Youth World Championship currently under way in Bratislava Slovakia saw some nice encounters and gave a first idea of who might be a strong contender for the II women's youth title.

In Group A Russia proved that they are in excellent shape when overcoming rivals Denmark with a clear 7-goal margin. The Danes managed to reduce the margin to 2 at intervals but nothing more. So it will be a tough job to defend their title they won in 2006. The Netherlands earned an easy win over newcomers Puerto Rico to rank top of Group A.

Host Slovakia made their first appearance in Group B to overcome Tunisia. After a nervous opening they got more and more comfortable at Pasienky Hall. Nevertheless Korea grabbed the top position after making light work of Qatar, which had their first appearance in the women's world title contests.

Tight matches marked the opening in Group C when, quite surprisingly, Spain had to concede a narrow defeat to Serbia, who were cheering on the field, since they managed to sneak away in the very end of the match to secure their one-goal win. The course of the second game between Argentina and Japan was similar, both sides went neck-to-neck until minute '48 when Argentina managed to run ahead and to bring home and dry their 4-goal victory.

After France's opener in Group D coach Mangin breathed a sigh of release after his side's finally clear win over Angola you were not allowed to underestimate due to their physical fitness. So the French girls seemed somewhat insecure in the beginning but later on improved to prepare their 27:11 win and to make a claim for the title win as the reigning WU17 European Champions. Pan-American representatives Brazil cruised to a 43:7 win over Asia side Hong Kong to come in 1st of Group D.

The preliminary round matches continue today at the National Tennis Centre and the Pasienky hall in Bratislava.